Consumers believe that their outlook is getting better. But they are not necessarily ready to participate in the housing market just yet. The June Housing Survey released by Fannie Mae shows that consumer sentiment toward the housing market is continuing to improve as the overall economic outlook improves but it still sits well below the level necessary for the market to normalize.

“Since we began collecting monthly National Housing Survey data in June 2010, we’ve seen substantial progress in consumer home price expectations and other key attitudinal measures as the housing recovery gained its footing,” said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae.

“Still, we do not expect to see ‘normal’ levels of new residential construction, in the region of 1.6 million new housing units per year, before the end of 2016, our original projection. Such a feat would require a pace of growth in housing starts not seen in decades.”

The survey indicates that consumer’s twelve month home price change expectation remained positive but dipped slightly compared to previous months, coming in at 2.4 percent. Further, 55 percent of consumers expect mortgage rates to increase in the next year.

“The uptick this month in the share of consumers expecting mortgage rates to go up and the accompanying decline in home price expectations reflect the pause of activity in the housing market so far this year,” said Duncan. “Despite recent improvement, we now expect an annual decline in existing home sales due to weak volume in the first four months of the year associated with the rise in mortgage rates mid-last year and the current dearth of supply of lower-priced homes.

The one number that is never published in these reports is the amount of money that the US Taxpayers paid out for all this “success”. The last amount found was $2.5 Billion dating from around the end of 2013. For a more detailed look at this subject – please read the article below.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have completed nearly 3.2 million foreclosure prevention actions since the start of the government’s conservatorship of the two companies in 2008. According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’sForeclosure Prevention Report, 88,000 actions were performed in the first quarter of 2014 alone.

The agency found that foreclosure prevention actions in Q1 allowed 2.6 million borrowers to remain in their homes, while 1.6 million borrowers received permanent loan modifications.

“There were nearly 54,700 permanent loan modifications in the first quarter, bringing the total number of permanent modifications to more than 1.6 million since conservatorship,” FHFA said. “In addition, the Enterprises completed approximately 16,100 repayment plans and 2,900 forbearance plans to help delinquent borrowers during the quarter.”

Properties currently utilizing the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) totaled 431,000 in the first quarter of 2014.

Of all permanent loan modifications in the first quarter, 42 percent reduced monthly homeowner payments by over 30 percent. “Approximately 27 percent of borrowers who received permanent loan modifications during the quarter had portions of their mortgage balance forborne,” FHFA said.

The FHFA found that approximately 14,900 short sales and deeds-in-lieu were completed during the quarter, bringing the total to more than 566,800 since the start of the conservatorship.

This is good and bad news for the country. With Mr. Watt running the FHFA you can expect more principle forgiveness with more buyers qualifying for mortgages. On the down side his programs will cost the U.S. Taxpayer a lot more money in the form of government subsidies (HAPM, HARP, Etc.). For a more detailed look at this subject – please read the article below.

After months of contentious debate, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) finally has a new director. Mel Watt, the former democratic North Carolina senator, was sworn in Monday to a five-year term as the first Senate-confirmed director of the FHFA. Anthony Foxx, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation and former mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina administered the oath.

FHFA was created by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 to oversee Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks and is responsible for oversight of the $5.5 trillion mortgage finance market.

“I am honored to serve as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency,” Watt said. “Today’s housing finance system is one of the keys to our economic recovery and I am grateful for the opportunity to help develop a strong foundation for moving this system forward for the benefit of all Americans at this critical point in our nation’s history.”

Watt, 68, represented the 12th congressional district of North Carolina as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for more than 21 years, being first elected to that office in 1992. As a member of Congress, Watt served on the House Financial Services Committee, and its Capital Markets Subcommittee and Government Sponsored Enterprises. Watt also served on the House Judiciary Committee, where he was ranking member of the Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet Subcommittee. Watt also served as Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

While this survey addresses the use of more technology regarding the mortgage process the same holds true for the purchasing of a home. The easier it is for the consumer to compare different potential purchases the more likely they will be to buy. The better job the Realtor does in presenting their offering the greater the odds are that their listed home will sell. For a more detailed look at this subject – please read the article below.

A recently released borrower survey on shopping habits shows increasing reliance on online tools when mortgage shopping, though many still find the learning curve too steep.

Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group released Thursday the findings from its latest topic analysis. The data was taken from consumer survey results from throughout the second quarter of 2013.

According to the group, the collected data show higher income borrowers—those earning at least $100,000 per year—are more likely to use online applications to make their own mortgage calculations, while low earners—those making less than $50,000 annually—rely more on real estate agents, lenders, and advice from family and friends in making their borrowing decisions.

In addition, when asked for suggestions in making the shopping process easier, high-income borrowers focused more on the technological side, with most saying they would like an improved way to compare multiple loan offers. On the other hand, low-income consumers were more likely to say they want easier-to-understand loan terms and costs.

“Higher income borrowers are using online shopping approaches about twice as frequently as lower income borrowers, which aligns with a stronger focus on doing their own calculations and using tools,” the research group’s business strategy director, Steve Deggendorf, said.

This doesn’t come as a big surprise considering the unemployment rate, interest rate increases and home prices climbing. The fact that so many people think that their personal situation will get worse in the next 12 months is a little unexpected but not a great shocker. For a more detailed look at this subject – please read the article below.

Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed believe the economy is on the wrong track. Twenty-two percent expect their personal finances to worsen during the next year, and only 45 percent expect home prices to increase within the next 12 months.

According to Doug Duncan, SVP and chief economist at Fannie Mae: “We continue to see caution as the defining feature of Americans’ attitudes toward the economy and their personal financial situation. In this environment, the housing recovery is likely to improve, but only at a gradual pace.”

Duncan continued: “Our November National Housing Survey results show a loss of momentum in expectations for home prices and personal finances. Also, the majority of consumers expecting higher mortgage rates implies a slowing of housing market momentum. As the economy continues to improve and household balance sheets for most Americans are slow to repair, we continue to see the transition to a full housing recovery as a slow process.”

This is good and bad news for the country. With Mr. Watt running the FHFA you can expect more principle forgiveness with more buyers qualifying for mortgages. On the down side his programs will cost the U.S. Taxpayer more money in the form of government subsidies (HAPM, Etc.) For a more detailed look at this subject – please read the article below.

Analysts expect to see a new face at the helm of the agency overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now that Democrats in the Senate have changed the rules, eliminating the use of the filibuster to block presidential appointments.

The Senate majority’s instatement of the so-called nuclear option “has cleared the path for Mel Watt’s confirmation” as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), according to secondary market analysts at Barclays.

Under the chamber’s new rules, the president’s nominees for all positions except Supreme Court judge can be approved with a simple majority vote, rather than the previous requirement of 60 “yay” votes.

Rep. Mel Watt (D-North Carolina) received 56 votes in favor of his confirmation on October 31st, just 4 votes shy of the number needed under the old rules but enough to be confirmed under the new simple-majority requirement.

“[H]e has the required votes and should be confirmed as the new FHFA director. In our view, this raises the level of policy risk,” Barclays said, “as we would generally expect him to be more supportive of the administration’s policies. … [K]ey areas of concern would be principal forgiveness for the GSEs and potential expansion of the HARP [Home Affordable Refinance Program] eligibility date.”

The uncertainty of another government shutdown and high unemployment are the major causes for the shifts in the housing market. For a more detailed look at this subject – please read the article below.

In the aftermath of the federal government shutdown and contentious debt ceiling negotiations, Fannie Mae predicts “continued market volatility” for at least the next few months.

Consumer sentiment toward the economy and the housing market wavered last month, according to Fannie Mae’s November Economic Outlook.

Looking forward, “[s]ince many remaining policy decisions will spill over into the beginning of next year, it seems likely that both consumers and businesses will continue to pull back in the interim, leading to increased volatility in the markets,” said Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae.

The markets await a final budget, a decision regarding the debt ceiling, and the appointment of a new Federal Reserve chair.

Overall, Fannie expects 2013 to end with yearly economic growth around 2 percent and an uptick to 2.5 percent next year.

The housing market contributed 0.4 percentage points to growth domestic product (GDP) in the third quarter, unchanged from the second quarter, according to Fannie Mae.

Existing home sales declined in September, as did pending home sales, which signal more declines in the next couple months.

Single-family home starts “have disappointed” this year, according to Fannie Mae. In fact, they began to decline before interest rates began rising.

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